Challenges and Expectations in Adult Language Learning

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Grammar instruction or grammar learning? We dive into this with today's guests. 

Tania Ionin is a Professor of Linguistics and Director of Graduate Studies in Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her areas of expertise include second language acquisition and experimental semantics, with a focus on the nominal domain.

Silvina Montrul is Marjorie Roberts Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the director of the Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism Lab, founder and director of the University Language Academy for Children, and former director of the Doctoral Program in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education (SLATE).

Together, they have written and published the book "Second Language Acquisition: Introducing Intervention Research." 

In this episode, they discuss: 

•  grammatical knowledge in the context of language acquisition
• what intervention research is
• why we expect too much of adult learners 
• how instruction contributes or doesn't contribute to grammar acquisition
• efficacious conditions for grammar instruction 
• how educators can influence the learning of grammar
• why studying monolinguals helps to understand L2 acquisition
• literate vs illiterate native speakers for a study on grammatical knowledge 

For more on today's guests:

1. Get their book "SLA: Introducing Intervention Research"

2. Silvina's website

3. Tania's website

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